Robots, computers, and the gender wage gap

Suqin Ge and Yu Zhou

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2020, vol. 178, issue C, 194-222

Abstract: We analyze the effects of two automation technologies, industrial robots and computing equipment, on the gender wage gap in US local labor markets between 1990 and 2015. We find distinct impact of robot and computer capital: an increase in robots decreases male wage more than female wage, whereas an increase in computers reduces female wage more than male wage. According to our estimates, one additional unit of robot per thousand workers reduces gender wage gap by 0.3 log points, and by contrast an increase in computer capital by one million dollars per thousand workers increases gender wage gap by 4.1 log points.

Keywords: Robots; Computers; Gender wage gap; Automation; Wages (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J23 J24 J31 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:178:y:2020:i:c:p:194-222

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2020.07.014

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